The current public switched telephone network employs thousands of switches, multiplexors, and other telecommunications devices that must work in concert in order to provide for the connection and completion of the ordinary telephone call. Many of these devices provide for status information which is sent back over the network to control centers regarding the health of the network. Different methods have been utilized in the past to present information from telecommunications network equipment to a network operator who is responsible for monitoring and controlling the operation of that equipment. The most common of these methods used computers that provide information to the network operator in a simple text-based presentation of the equipment activity as provided by the equipment manufacturer. The presentations are typically chronological reports of equipment activity which may not be relevant to the network operators needs. Moreover, a network operator is unable to tailor the presentation to address new needs corresponding to a changed operational environment.
In another approach, telecommunication network maintenance and monitoring is addressed with the use of a computer support system, typically using computer displays called "awareness screens" or alarm monitors." The computer support system extracts information available from the telecommunications equipment and delivers it to a network operator on a computer display. However, these displays are inflexible, in that a network operator cannot tailor the display for the assessment of the current problem.
Prior attempts to provide overview or summary information for monitoring the telecommunications environment have included geographic mapping in which telecommunications devices are displayed according to their relative physical location on a map. However, geographic maps typically require more space on a computer display. Thus these maps are cluttered and provide for less information.
What is desirable is single, common presentation of an overview of all pertinent information, which can be tailored by the network operator, for dynamically controlling a telecommunications operating environment.